Up to 15 children a week are rushed to hospital to get medical aid for crushed fingers.

A new report by the Irish Association of Plastic Surgeons (IAPS) shows that almost five children a week are treated in just one Dublin paediatric hospital.

Digits slammed in car doors, animal attacks or fingers wedged in home appliances can lead to a permanent deformity, the group warned.

But now the IAPS are urging people to spend a paltry €3 to make sure no child has to live without all their digits.

Dr Patricia Eadie, President of IAPS, said: “Based on this research, it’s safe to say that at least 15 children a week nationwide have to go to hospital with crushed finger injuries.

“And whereas there will always be accidents involving children one thing that parents of toddlers especially could do to help avoid the majority of these traumas is to buy a simple €3 rubber doorstop, the kid-proof kind that grips the top of the door and stops it closing over completely.”

The plastic surgeons’ body also advised parents what to do if their child is unfortunate enough to have a finger chopped off.

Dr Eadie added: “In some cases the top of the fingers can be sheared right off.

“In the case of the finger being cut off an adult should immediately wrap the digit in a moistened cloth, put it into a plastic bag and put ice around the outside of the bag and bring it and the child to a hospital as quickly as possible.”

Panicking parents also have to be wary that a rogue pet doesn’t run off with the finger and that the digit is kept on ice, according to the doctor.

She said: “Also, as there have been cases of family pets getting to a severed finger it’s important to be aware of this and to pick it up as quickly as possible and put it somewhere safe.”

But there is good news for anyone who is forced to suffer a horrible accident.

In the surveyed hospitals, 74 of their patients healed within two weeks, 64 patients were perfect at three weeks and 65 patients took a little over three weeks to recover.

A significant number of patients failed to keep their follow-up appointments and the IAPS assumed that there were no long term problems.

Of the 108 patients who came for a follow-up, 90 had healed perfectly but only 18 patients had deformities or distorted nails.